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[House  Bill  No.  O.j 

HOUSE  OB^  REPRESENTATIVES,  May  3,  1864.— Read  first 
and  second  times,  referrci  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  and 
ordered  to  ho  printed. 

[By  Mr.  PiiKKiNS.] 


Is.   BILL 

To  organize  a  corpu  of  scouts  and  signal  guards,  to  facilitate  commu- 
nication with  the  trans-Mississippi  department, 

1  Skc'iion  I .    The  Congress  of  the  Confcde.rnte  States  of  America  do 

2  enact,  That   the  President  be,  and  he   is  hereby,  authorized,  by 

3  and  with  the   advice  of  the  Senate,  to  appoint  one  colonel,  one 

4  lieutenant  colonel,  one  major,  and  ten  captains,  to  do  service  as 

5  "  scouts  and  signal  guards,"  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 

6  river. 

1  Sec.  2.  The  officers  thus  commissioned  shall  have  authority  to 

2  raise,  out  of  those  not  liable  to  conscription,  ten  companies,  to 

3  be  officered  by  the  President,  to  be  composed  of  such   members 

4  and  such  persons  as  he  may  approve,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
6  do  scout  and  guard  duty  for  Government  transportation  across 

6  the  Mississippi  river,  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  may 

7  be  prescribed  by  the  War  Department. 


Sec.  3,  The  I'resident  ma^  detail   such  officers  and  mou  from 
2     the  army  as  he  may  deem  peculiarly  qualified  for  the  service. 

1  .        Sec.  4.  Such  "  scouts  and  signal  guards"  shall  be  composed 

2  either  of  infantry  or  cavalry,  or  in  part  of  hoth,  at  the  discretion 

3  of  the  President,  and  furnished  and  equipped  in  such  manner  as 

4  will  make  them  most  effective,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same 

5  pay  and  allowances,  and  be  subject  to  the   same  regulations,  as 

6  other  soldiers. 


